New Late Cretaceous to earliest Paleogene (Campanian–Danian) dinoflagellate cysts from the Møre Basin, offshore Norway

Abstract

The Late Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments of the Norwegian continental shelf are rich and diverse in fossil dinoflagellate cysts. The assemblages are generally well-preserved which allow high resolution biostratigraphical studies and sometimes identify new species with chronostratigraphic significance. This paper proposes the formal description of eight new species from the Møre Basin, offshore Norway: Adnatosphaeridium tubulosum, Canningia crassimura, Canningia exilimura, Palaeohystrichophora elongata, Palaeoperidinium minusculatum, Senoniasphaera porosa, Trithyrodinium ioannidesii and Trithyrodinium verrucatum. All the key diagnostic and morphological features of each species are discussed and compared with those of other forms outside and within the same genera. The new species presented have been recognized in a stratigraphic interval ranging from the early Campanian to the early Danian (Early Paleocene); their occurrence can be used in conjunction with other previously published markers to enhance the stratigraphic breakdown of wells across the region and wider offshore Northwest Europe.